


It's A (Not So) Terrible Life

by alenenb



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supernatural, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2019-09-28 17:27:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17187251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alenenb/pseuds/alenenb
Summary: If you've seen Supernatural episode 4.17, It's A Terrible Life, then there's no need to read this summary.James Buchanan Barnes is the Sales & Marketing Director and Steve Rogers works in a cubicle of the Technical Support of a Corporation. They both have normal office lives, work on separate floors in separate departments, and have no idea that the other exists. That is, until Steve starts having these weird dreams......





	1. A Well Respected Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you've watched Supernatural episode 4.17, It's A Terrible Life, you already know what's going on.
> 
> James Buchanan Barnes is the Sales & Marketing Director and Steve Rogers works in a cubicle of the Technical Support of a Corporation. They both have daily routines, 9 to 5 jobs, and normal lives. And they have no idea either of them exist.  
> That is, until Steve starts having these weird dreams....

James slams his hand on the snooze button of his bedside alarm clock.

**6:00 AM**

He hops out of bed and goes straight to his shower. He feels awake and refreshed, as he does every morning. Clean shaven, buttons up his freshly steamed white collared shirt, and slicks back his grown out hair. In the kitchen, he steams his morning latte, pours it into a to-go mug, and gets in his Prius sitting outside as if it's waiting just for him. He gives a sigh of satisfaction and turns on the car radio. 

 

> _"Since I can't remember when_  
>  _It's been a long, long time_  
>  _You'll never know how many dreams_  
>  _I've dreamed about you"_

"What the-" James immediately changed the channel to his regular morning NPR. _That was weird_ , he thought. James thought back to yesterday if he accidentally set the channel to a different station, but couldn't recall. He's never heard that type of music before on the radio, sounded like it was from the 1940's or something.

James brushed it off and went back to his current task: driving to his office.

His day was same old same old, typing up papers, talking on his headset, eating his salad for lunch. Near the end of the day, his boss gently knocks on the door and walks into his office. 

"Call me back once you've seen the spreadsheets," James hangs up his call and acknowledges his boss. "Mr. Rumlow."

"James," a smile was plastered on Brock Rumlow's face. He patted James on the shoulder, "Good stuff."

"Good stuff?" James was pleased to hear his boss' approval.

"Big things! Good stuff." He pointed his finger at James admirably.

"Good stuff," James repeats to his boss as he exits his office.

About an hour later, it was time to go home. James shuts down his desktop and packs up his papers. He walks out to the elevator and as he's waiting, he sighs, thinking about another great day at work. The elevator arrives and James steps in, asking the other man in the elevator to push the button for garage level 1. The elevator is silent as the two stand, waiting. James can't help but glance over at the other man, and looked away quickly when he noticed the man is looking at him in a weird way.

_Maybe if I ignore him, he won't talk to me_ , James thought to himself. Unfortunately for James, that didn't seem to be the case.

"Do I know you?" the man asked sincerely. James looked back at him to see if he somehow did. The man looked about the same age as him, but a couple inches taller. He had short blond hair and extremely blue eyes. Not to mention the man was pretty built under his yellow polo shirt he was wearing. But, after taking the man in visually, nothing really rang a bell.

"I don't think so," James responded, looking back to stare at the elevator doors in front of him.

A few seconds passed and the man started to talk again, "I'm sorry man, you just look really familiar."

_Did_ he know this man? _Maybe he saw me here one day and forgot about it_ , James thought to himself. They do work in the same building after all.

The elevator stopped and dinged, signifying that James was at his stop. "Save it for the health club, pal," he retorted back as he quickly left the elevator. He could feel the man's blue eyes still glued onto him as he walked out to the garage.

_Save it for the health club?_ James thought, _Why did I say that? It's not like the man was flirting with me. Or was he? What if he was going to invite me to grab drinks or something?_

James tried to change his train of thought, he had no idea what was going on in his head right now. It's not like he had no romantic experience. He's had plenty of girlfriends in his time, it's just that he hasn't dated anyone ever since he got this job. _I'm starting a new chapter in my life, it's good to wipe the slate clean,_ was his reasoning behind it. He sighed to himself and tried to think of anything else so he wouldn't give himself a headache. James got in his car and was ready to head home, go to sleep, and start another perfect day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This is my first AO3 fic :)
> 
> I love this episode of SPN and thought it would be awesome if it was actually about Steve and Bucky, when I realized no one was gonna write it, I decided to, even though I've barely written stories in my lifetime.
> 
> I appreciate feedback, other chapters may be longer, but I'm just testing this out right now, let me know what you think.  
> Also if you know how this episode goes and have any fun ideas, let me know :)
> 
> I'll try to get out updates asap, schools pretty busy and I'm writing another (stucky) story on my twitter acc so I'll be spending some time on that too.
> 
> I'm active about marvel on my twitter! @_marvelmedia


	2. Tech Support, This Is Steve

It was the next day and Steve was still thinking about that man in the elevator. He just looked so _familiar._

_*RING*_

from his blue eyes, to his sharp jaw,

_*RING*_

to his long hair, to his lips.. _._

_*RIIINNNGGG*_

"Oh!" Steve snapped back to reality when he finally realized his phone had been ringing. He fumbled in his swivel chair and reached for the phone, pressing the button to connect the line to his headset.

"Tech support, this is Steve Rogers."

Maybe he's just seen him in public before or something.

"Okay. Uh well, did you try turning it off and on again?"

Or was he someone he knew from his childhood, and he didn't remember?

"Okay, well go ahead and turn it off,"

What if they lived in the same apartment complex but didn't know it?

"No no no no, just- just off."

God, it was driving him nuts.

"Now give it a second, turn it back on. Is it printing now?"

And what was that comment he gave Steve while leaving the elevator?

"Great, anytime."

Did he really think Steve was trying to flirt with him?

Steve took off his headset and hung up with his customer. Maybe sitting in a cramped cubicle eight hours a day was getting to his head.

"Hey," Steve's colleague, and closest friend at this job, swiveled up to him from his cubicle behind Steve's.

Steve glanced up at him, not surprised at the fact that he was wearing a graphic t-shirt with a flannel on top instead of their yellow polo shirt uniform. "Hey, Clint."

"What do you think of, uh, Natasha?" Clint glanced over at one of their other colleagues, a few cubicles down from them.

Steve looked over, not sure where this was going, "She's ok."

Clint squinted his eyes, still looking at Natasha, "Might have to hit that."

Aaand there we go. "Oh, come on, we're not gonna have this conversation."

Clint scoffed, "Have you _seen_ her?"

"Yes, and I doubt she'll go for someone like _you_." Steve smirked at Clint's reaction to his comeback.

"Oh, are you saying she'll go for you?" This time it was Clint's time to smirk as Steve rolled his eyes, trying to hide the fact that his cheeks were growing a bit pink.

"Coffee break?" proposed Steve, trying to change the subject.

On the way to the break room, they pass another co-worker's cubicle, Paul. Paul is an older guy and is a bit private, but nice nonetheless. Steve noticed he seemed to be unsettled about something, and Clint picked up on it too. Staring at his screen, he's typing vigorously and he looked like he's been working nonstop since the day started. Clint rested his arms on the side of the cubicle and tried to get Paul's attention.

"Paul, hey, time for a refuel, buddy." When he got no response, he tried again, "Paul, hellooooo."

"Sorry, no time," he blurted out, obviously trying to concentrate on whatever he was doing.

Both Steve and Clint were puzzled by his reply, and Clint chuckled, "Since when? Dude, we get payed by the hour-"

"Working!" Paul interrupted him with quite an assertive tone, and it sounded like it was their cue to leave.

"Ohkay," Clint shot a face at Steve and they both continued walking to the break room.

"He seemed stressed," Steve muttered.

"He's probably freaked," added Clint, "I think he got busted for surfing porn on the internet."

"What?! No way, when?" asked Steve as they rounded the corner into the break room.

Clint chuckled, "He got sent up to H.R. yesterday. Now he's acting like he ran into Nazis instead or something."

Steve grabbed a coffee mug from the cabinet. There was another worker waiting for their popcorn to finish in the microwave. The break room was small and cheap, like any other office, but it was where Steve and Clint could chill and talk about their interests or complain about customers. Steve realized he doesn't really know why he and Clint became friends, it kind of just happened. Clint was a total slacker, you can tell just by his appearance, and that wasn't the type of person Steve would really hang out with. But, here they were, and honestly, it wasn't bad.

When Steve turned around to go to the coffee machine, the employee heating up the popcorn, one that Steve didn't really know well, bumped into him as he was leaving the room and Steve almost dropped his mug. "Watch where you're going!" He retorted to Steve, and left.

"Jeez," said Clint, glaring at the doorway. "That wasn't rude at all."

"It's fine," Steve shrugged, putting the coffee in the machine. "I'm used to it. I was bullied a lot when I was a kid, you know." He paused. "Actually, I don't know. I don't really remember. Huh, that's weird."

"Whatever man. Hey, forget about your crappy childhood and tell me about those dreams you've been having." Clint's face lit up at the topic as Steve groaned. "Come on! It's the highlight of my day!"

Steve sighed, "Promise you won't laugh at me like last time?"

Clint made an X over his heart.

Steve hesitated before he spoke, "Last night, I dreamt that I was fighting super-nazis while wearing an American flag outfit."

"Nazi's?? Wh- last time it was robots, and now _Nazi's_??" Clint's voice went up an octave, obviously trying not to laugh. "Wait, why were Nazi's- sorry, super-Nazi's wearing American flags??"

Steve partially covered his face to hide the embarrassment, "I was wearing the flag suit."

" _You were_ -" Clint burst out laughing and Steve rolled his eyes. "Wait, first outfit, and now you say suit?"

"Dude, you said you wouldn't laugh!" Steve hissed and Clint began to calm down. "And yea, it was like this- some kind of combat, stealth suit? You know what, forget it."

Steve walked out of the break room leaving Clint to get the rest of his laughter out of his system.

* * *

 

**_*BOOM*_ **

Steve gasped and jumped up in his chair. He looked around in a panic and his breathing started to slow when he realized he was still in the office. It was just another dream.

 _I must've nodded off while working_ , Steve thought. He started to speculate his dream. There were... gunshots. He was fighting those Nazi guys again, but- wait. There was someone else with him. A guy. He had long, dark hair. And- a metal arm?

Weird.

_I need some fresh air._

Still shaken from the dream, Steve got up from his chair and headed to the elevator. When the door opened, he stepped in looking down, avoiding everyone else. The doors closed and he glanced up from the corner he put himself in. There were only a few other people in the elevator with him: a man, two women, and- _it's him._

_Oh god, I **really** need some fresh air._

Steve started to feel the anxiety creep up inside of him. This just felt so weird. It felt _wrong._ First the weird dreams, and then _that_ guy was in the dreams _with_ him? But why _him?_ Steve never seen him before yesterday, he was sure of it. But then why did he look so _familiar?_

The elevator stopped, but it wasn't the ground floor yet. When the doors opened everyone else started to leave the elevator.

_Thank god._

Everyone except him.

_Oh no._

The doors closed again and they were left in silence.

Steve looked straight ahead, purposefully avoiding eye contact. It didn't help that he can feel the man's eyes glance at him repeatedly. He gripped the handrail on the wall, using it to calm down.

"Hey man," _Great, he's talking to me now._ "Look, about, uh, last time,,, I feel like we kinda got on the wrong foot, so.. sorry."

"It's fine, forget it." Steve response was quick. He looked back up at the man, god he couldn't help it, he's been in his head all day.

"Are you sure we don't- that we- we haven't.. seen each other before?" Steve stuttered.

The man turned his head now and gave Steve his full attention. "No? I'm sorry but I don't know you..." His voice trailed off when he saw Steve gripping the handrail so hard his knuckles were white. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, it's just," Steve took a deep breath. "Something.. weird is happening and I don't know what's going on."

The man looked like he didn't really know what to make of that. "Oh, well.."

The doors opened, _finally_ , and Steve let out a sigh of relief. He didn't bother to say anything else as he rushed outside.

When he started to feel a little bit better, Steve headed back up to his office. He only had less than an hour until he could go home. Maybe he'll feel better tomorrow after a good night's sleep.

The hour went by fast and it was time for Steve to pack up. He passed Paul's cubicle and couldn't help but noticed that Paul seemed to be even more freaked than before.

"No no no no no," Paul kept repeating.

"Paul? Hey what's wrong, c'mon its time to go." Steve leaned over to see his screen.

"It's gone, it's all gone. I've been working all day and it's _gone_." Paul kept typing frantically.

Steve started, "Did you save it-"

" _No_ I didn't save it. I wish I did but I didn't."

Steve didn't know what to do. "Well, I don't really know how to help you then, sorry. Uh, see you tomorrow."

\----

The next morning, Steve felt better. No dreams, no weird Nazi's, no gunshots. 

He was actually looking forward to going to work, that is, until he saw the ambulances parked outside of his office building.


	3. Unordinary

When the elevators opened on the floor Steve worked on, he was greeted with paramedics and a crowd of company workers.

"What's going on?" Steve asked aloud as he tried to look over the crowd.

A man, who seemed to work in the same department as Steve, answered his question, "It was Paul."

Steve looked at the man, surprised. "What?"

The man looked sorry. "Yeah, he was there before anyone came into work, he seemed to be there all night. They said he was foaming at the mouth."

Foaming at the mouth... That sounded oddly familiar to Steve- he was starting to feel uneasy about the whole situation.

"Something's not right..." Steve looked to his right to see who spoke, and saw Natasha standing next to him, looking forward with a concerning, distant look in her eyes. She turned to Steve, "Steve, something's going on; I-" She stopped mid-sentence and tore her gaze from Steve's face. Then she disappeared without another word, leaving Steve even more confused and worried than before. What was _happening?_

Steve looked forward again to see the paramedics carry Paul out on a stretcher, covered with a blanket head to toe. He scanned the crowd looking for Clint before he remembered Clint never shows up on time.

Instead, he saw _him_.

* * *

James didn't know how to feel. An employee for his company just died while working. But, the whole thing was sketchy. First, Paul stayed after the work day was over, which was weird enough. Second, he foamed at the mouth? That's a first if James has ever heard one. Yet, it was nagging at something in the back of his mind. Like it was buried at the bottom of the ocean and couldn't be found, but he knew it was there.The only thing keeping James from pushing that nag away for later is when his eyes landed on that IT guy he met twice in the elevator. He looked panicked and confused, and honestly, James couldn't blame him. But, there was something else. It felt like the man knew something everyone else didn't, like he had that same nag at the bottom of his ocean, and James is the only one who was related to that nag. 

The man finally saw James and the emotion displayed on his face made one thought enter James' mind: something was _wrong_.

The man looked eager now, like he wanted to say something, but the paramedics made everyone leave the scene and go back to work. Once James got back to his office, he started thinking over everything weird that's happened recently. First, the man thought he knew James, then the second time it happened it looked like the man was having an anxiety attack or something. At first James thought the guy was just weird, or that he was just trying to casually make a move on him, but now, James' second guessing it. Shit. He has to think about this later. He's at work, he can worry about this when he gets home.

* * *

"Hey, how do you think Paul really died? I heard someone say he poisoned himself. Why would he do that?" Steve rolled back his chair to talk to Clint, whom he hasn't seen since yesterday afternoon. For some reason, Clint got called up to HR, but he just laughed it off and joked that it was probably because they finally noticed he hasn't been wearing his uniform since day one or something. But the response given to Steve was not one he was expecting.

"I can't talk right now Steve. I'm busy." Clint retorted, not looking up from the keyboard.

"What?" Steve asked, confused. He's joking again right? "What's with you today? Were you and Paul closer than I thought?"

"I'm working, it's important!"

Okay, this was getting weird. "Since when do you actually care about work?" Steve examined Clint more. "You're wearing the shirt! Did you shave? Dude what's going on?"

Instead of answering Steve, Clint answered his phone, then got up without giving Steve a glance.

"Woah woah, where are you going?" Steve almost stood up from his chair.

"Got called up. I have to talk to a manager." Then he was gone.

* * *

"Ah Clint, right? Come on in."

Clint walked gingerly into James' office as James pulled out some papers.

"Your 445-T you did yesterday had a few errors, I just need you to redo them." He displayed the paper on his desk in front of Clint.

"Oh no.."

James looked up at Clint and saw he seemed really hurt. "Hey, it's not a big deal, I just need it done by today."

"No no no... oh my god...."

"I- it's fine, you just have to re-file them, and we're good-"

"I can't believe I did this.." Clint started to breath shallow breaths now, and James was getting concerned.

"Hey, what's wrong?" James started to stand up which made Clint start to back away. James got as close to Clint as he could. Then Clint looked up with a totally emotionless expression.

"I am not worthy. I have failed." He took something, it looked like a pill, out of his pocket. "Hail Hydra."

Before Clint could put the pill in his mouth, James did the only thing that entered his mind. Out of total reflex that came out of nowhere, James punched Clint in the face and knocked him unconscious.

 _Ow_. 

James was totally not freaking out right now. Nope, not at all. He just knocked out one of his employees who was acting _really_ weird, and by the sound of it, about to kill himself.

 _Shit_. There was an unconscious man in his office. Shit shit shit. James couldn't handle this anymore. Something was going on, he knew that by now. The scary thing is that all the events that have happened in the past three days felt somehow connected, like photos attached to the same string, like a conspiracy theory board. 

But what filled James with dread was what the string was in this situation. At this point, he had no other choice. He picked up the phone and dialed.

_"Tech Support, this is Steve."_

"I need to see you in my office. Now-"

_*Click*_

 


	4. Not What It Seems

James heard a knock on his door and turned around to see Steve facing him, hands clutched around his work bag.

"Come in. Shut the door," said James as he stood up from his desk.

When Steve shut the door, he looked to his right and froze. There he saw his unconscious friend laying uncomfortably in an arm chair.

"What the _fuck?_ " Steve looked at James with fear and anger in his eyes, assuming he was the one who mercilessly attacked his only friend. "What did you do to him? Who are you? I swear-"

"WAIT!" James interrupted him holding his hands out. "I can explain! I was saving him I swear! That's... kinda what I want to talk to you about."

Steve hesitated, thinking whether he wanted to believe James or not. He eventually decided on the former, when he sighed deeply and went over to Clint to check on him. "Okay. What happened?"

James let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "I- I called him up, y'know, to fix some mistakes he made, and he just freaked out, like he committed a fuckin' felony or something. And then," he gestured to Clint lying unconscious, "he took out this pill, and-" _He said 'Hail Hydra'_ "-he said he failed? or something? and he was about to swallow this pill but I kinda knocked him out before he could."

Steve looked up at him, eyebrows furrowed. "Pill? What pill?"

James held put a plastic baggie with the pill inside it. "Here. I'm not sure what it does to you, but I don't think it's anything good. Hey, I didn't really catch your name."

Steve took the bag to examine the pill. "Steve. Rogers."

"Steve Rogers," James repeated quietly. He didn't know why, but Steve's name gave him comfort. It just rolled off of James' tongue like he's said it a million times before.

"And you are?" Steve asked, looking up at James.

"Oh, uh James Barnes."  James noticed that when he gave Steve his name, Steve's face was overshadowed with a tinge of disappointment, like James said the wrong name. James couldn't help but be bothered by it, but he decided to ignore it.

"So, I actually called you up here cuz I really need to talk to you."

Steve set the pill bag down on James' desk. "About?"

James hesitated. _You? Your existence? All the crazy shit going on? The fact that someone died and your friend was probably next?_

"Everything, actually," He leaned on his desk, half standing half sitting. "First, in the elevator, you said I looked familiar to you?"

"Yeah," Steve was thinking hard. "I swear I know you from somewhere. When did you start working here?"

"Three weeks ago," James answered. "You?"

"Same." Steve looked confused now. "If we started at this company at the same time, how did you get a higher position than I did? Where did you work before?"

"I worked at..." James thought for a second. He worked at... how could he not remember the name? He started thinking more, anxiety spreading in his chest. He tried to remember his past job, his college, even high school. Nothing. He couldn't remember anything about his life before he started working here three weeks ago.

"Steve, what do you remember before you started working here? Your job, your school, your family?"

Steve thought hard. "My family? well my mom's name was Sarah, and my dad died when I was born. I had-" _sisters_ Steve almost said, but he remembered he didn't. "Uh, my mom died too, and I moved in with my best friend. My school..." That's weird, he didn't remember. Maybe college? A job? Images of bundled up newspapers started flashing in his head, throwing them at doors. A newspaper boy? That job didn't even exist anymore, that was like the early 1900's. Why was Steve thinking of _that?_ "I.. don't remember."

"So you remember your family? A friend? Was it Clint?"

Steve chuckled, "No, I've known this friend for longer. We were closer. He was almost like family."

"So a boyfriend?" James spit out before thinking.

"What?! No! I mean-" Steve's cheeks flushed a little, becoming defensive. "We were just,, close. What about you? Do you remember your family?"

James knew Steve was changing the subject, but let it slide. "Yeah, my mom, dad, I had three sisters." _And someone else,_ James thought. He pushed that thought to the back of his head. Steve's eyes went wide when James mentioned his sisters. He was about to say something when they both heard a groan from the armchair.

"Clint!" Steve rushed to Clint, who was groaning and beginning to sit up. He touched his face where James punched him, and Steve noticed there was a fresh bruise forming.

"Ohh, what happened?" Clint was looking around the room, then from Steve to James. "Where am I? What did you do to me?"

"Uhh," Steve looked at James, since James was the attacker in this situation.

James decided to start safe. "Clint, what do you remember?"

Clint thought hard. "I remember... getting called up to HR, and- and now I'm here."

James then held out the bag with the pill Clint almost took. "Do you remember this?"

Clint's eyes widened. "Yes." But he didn't continue.

"Well, where did you get it from?"

"I don't remember having it before today," Clint said. "I think, it's meant to kill anyone who takes it."

The room fell silent.

"You were gonna kill yourself?!" Steve exclaimed. 

"I didn't want to! I was brainwashed or something, everything's blurry since I went up to HR yesterday."

"Yeah," Steve muttered, "Didn't you say Paul went up to HR the day before he died?"

Clint nodded. "I think that's how he died. He had his own pill."

They fell silent again, soaking up all this information. 

"Clint," James started, "Do you remember saying anything weird to me before I knocked you out?"

Clint shook his head. "What did I say?"

James had a bad feeling about this, but he didn't know why. "You said, how you failed? And-" he took a deep breath, "You said the words 'Hail Hydra.'"

Clint didn't seemed phased. "I don't know what that is, sorry." However, James noticed Steve's face morphed into shock, like he recognized those words.

"Man this is so weird," said Clint, not noticing Steve. "Hey Steve, it's almost as weird as your weird dreams, am I right?" 

"Dreams!" Steve stood up abruptly, his mind going a million miles an hour. 

"Woah, Steve, what's wrong?" Clint managed to stand up and took a step towards him, but Steve only stepped back to the door. He was starting to hyperventilate.

"I need to get out of here," Steve stammered, as he opened the door and ran down the hall.

"Steve!" Clint started to follow but James stopped him. "I got this, you rest."

"But-" Clint started, but when he met James' eyes he sat back down. James didn't know why he was doing this, he just met the guy and Clint had known him for weeks. But James ran down the hall anyway.

* * *

He found Steve leaning over the bathroom sinks, silent.

"Hey," James cautioned, "You okay?"

Steve stood up and took a deep breath. He ran his hand through his short blond hair. "Yeah, it was nothing, sorry."

"Woah woah, you can't just say that was nothing," James took a step closer. "What dream was Clint talking about?"

Steve still wasn't looking at James in the eye. "Look it's not important-"

"Bullshit," James interrupted. "Spill, c'mon."

"They're really weird, like, _really_ weird, just don't make fun of me, okay?" Steve relaxed his shoulders when James nodded. "So, I've been having these dreams, where... I'm fighting? I'm in this combat suit the colors of the American flag, and I'm fighting robots, or aliens, or something weird."

James was listening intently. "Is it just you in the dream?"

This is the part Steve dreaded. "No... that'a the thing. I think Clint was in one of my dreams. He was shooting a bow and arrow. And,," This time he looked directly into James' eyes. "You were in it too."

James raised his eyebrows. " _I_ was in your dreams?"

Steve nodded, "You were in them before I even met you. You were in a lot of them actually." Steve thought hard. "You fought beside me. And- you had a metal arm."

When James didn't say anything, Steve continued, "I know it's crazy, and weird, but you asked, so-"

"Was it my left arm?"

"What?"

James asked again, "Was my left arm metal?"

"Uh.. yeah, how- how did you know?"

James was freaked out by what Steve was telling him. Not because it was strange, no, because it wasn't. Everything Steve said felt familiar to James, like he was reciting his own memories. "I remember. Everything you said, it's like I was actually there, like it actually happened."

Steve nodded, "The thing is, in my latest dream with you, I think we were fighting Hydra." Steve's eyes widened and suddenly doubled over, holding his head.

"AAAGGGHH" Steve cried out in pain, and James rushed to his side.

"Woah! Steve! Whats wrong?"

Steve immediately started to calm down. "I'm okay," his breathing started to slow.

James made a deduction. "Another dream?"

"Yeah, it's never happened when I'm awake though. But never mind that, I think I know what's going on." Steve started to become frantic. He got up and started to leave. "Bucky, we need to find Natasha."

James stopped right in his tracks. "What did you just call me?"

"Bucky?" Steve answered, "Wait, isn't that your name?"

"Only my ma and my sisters called me Bucky," James exclaimed. "How would you know?"

"It's short for your middle name, Buchanan. Look, Bucky, my dreams. I can explain everything, we just need to find Natasha, okay?"

Bucky suddenly saw visions appear in his head. He and Steve, just kids. Steve was really small for his age. Then they were older, at school. Steve and Bucky in their apartment. Then Steve looked different. He was muscular, and taller than Bucky. Now Bucky had a metal arm, he was fighting Steve? Then they were together. Fighting, laughing, and... kissing.

"Bucky? Bucky!" Steve's voice brought Bucky back to reality.

"Woah! Wh- what's happening? Steve?" All these memories.... they were his? But... they weren't. They couldn't. What was happening?

"Bucky, I know it's a lot, but we have to go, now. We have to get Clint and find Natasha."

Shit. Clint was still in Bucky's office. "I don't-" Bucky felt a tug at his gut. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't go back to his office, work a 9 to 5 job for the rest of his life. No, it was _wrong_. He had to go with Steve, he felt like it was his only choice.

"Okay. Let's go." Steve and Bucky ran side by side, like they've done this a million times before.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!  
> So we're finally getting somewhere :)  
> Thanks so much for reading this far, I hope you're enjoying it  
> Don't be scared to leave kudos or a comment!  
> I am writing another AU on my twitter @seui___ but I think I'm going to also post it here


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